Although it was just the first Region game of the year, ACA had a chance to gain the inside track of hosting in the first round of the playoffs with an upset victory at Trinity. The contest was tight and the outcome was decided in the final seconds, but in the end, the Wildcats walked away with the victory as they have so many times before. Trinity moves to 2-0 in the Region with the 20-14 defeat of Alabama Christian. The Eagles fall to 0-1 and leave themselves no margin for error in future Region games.
The Wildcats opened the game with three straight passes, resulting in two incompletions and an Otasowie Dion sack, on their initial possession and punted on fourth down. The Eagle offense fared no better on its first drive and punted back to Trinity. Corey Landers forced a fumble recovered by Dion to end the Wildcat’s second drive and set up the offense on their opponent’s 33-yard line. ACA could not capitalize as they gained just two yards on four plays and turned it over on downs. Trinity drove the field and was on the Eagle 26-yard line as the first quarter ended tied 0-0. ACA had gained ten yards on seven offensive plays in the period.
The home team continued its drive in the second quarter and took the lead with 9:20 left in the half. The drive took 13 plays, covered 69 yards and lasted almost eight minutes. Alabama Christian picked up a first down on the next drive and was ready to go for it on a 4th and 3 from the Wildcat 46-yard line, but a false start penalty cost them five yards and ended the possession. Trinity’s next drive did not produce points, but it did eat up 4 and a half more minutes of clock and it looked like they would take a 7-0 lead to the locker room. However, with 1:49 left in the half, the passing game made an appearance and the Eagles tied the game with 2.3 seconds left in the half as Hayes Hunt rolled left and threw across the field to Corey Landers near the goal line for a 30-yard scoring play to tie the contest, 7-7.
Neither team scored on its first drive of the second half, but the Eagles found a rhythm in their second drive. The squad marched 76 yards in eight plays to take a 14-7 lead. The drive was highlighted by an eighteen-yard run by Corey Landers and an eight-yard touchdown scamper by Otasowie Dion. Trinity answered as they scored on a 38-yard pass play on 3rd and 7 to knot the score, 14-14, early in the fourth period.
After a three and out from ACA, the Wildcats struck again and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:37 left in the contest. Trinity drove 89 yards in nine plays to take the lead. The Trinity kicker hit one of his linemen with the extra point to keep the lead at six points, 20-14. The next Eagle possession had the feel of the last chance for the visitors to pull off the win. Facing a 3rd and 12 from their own 18, David Ortiz-Ramirez picked up 15 yards on a reverse to give the Eagles hope. On the next play, Otasowie Dion raced 36 yards to the Wildcat 33 and the offense was in business with just over three minutes to play. The first touchdown of the drive was called back on a 2nd and 1 from the 12-yard line as quarterback Hayes Hunt tried to run up the middle and bounced it around the left end for an apparent score, but the referee had thrown a flag for holding on the offense. This was the first holding call of the night against either team. Eventually, the Eagles wound up with a 2nd and goal from the 2-yard line and looked poised to score. Corey Landers gained one yard on second down. Otasowie Dion looked to be trapped in the backfield on third down but lateraled to his quarterback who again ran around left end for an apparent score, but the referee had blown the play dead before the lateral ruling forward progress had been stopped. On the Eagles’ last play, Hunt was pressured and threw an interception in traffic to seal the win for the Wildcats.
Hunt finished the night with ten completions in seventeen attempts for 100 yards and a touchdown. The senior also ran for 29 yards on five carries and made four tackles on defense. Otasowie Dion led the backs with 85 yards on 11 carries and a score while Corey Landers had 45 yards on 14 rushes. Landers was the team’s leading receiver with four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown while Avery Stuart and Dion both had three receptions. William Milner led the defense with eight tackles while Dion, Landers and Stuart each had five tackles.